Kain Lawyers expands Melbourne M&A capability with key senior appointments from KPMG Law

Kain Lawyers have further bolstered their national M&A capability with the appointment of Director Cath Debreceny and Special Counsel Laura Murphy who will be based in the firm’s new Melbourne office at 55 Collins Street. Cath is a former M&A partner at KPMG Law with significant national and international experience in mergers, acquisitions, and disposals.

Cath’s practice focuses on founder exits, inbound multinational acquisitions, and acquisitions and disposals for Australian corporates. With over 25 years of national and international experience, Cath has advised on deals across the pharmaceutical, health, childcare, civil construction, industrials, and technology sectors. Cath recently advised CSA Specialised Services on its sale to Livingbridge’s Waste Services Group and the founders of Liberate Learning on the sale of a majority interest to MPS Interactive, a global B2B learning company listed on the Indian Stock Exchange.

Prior to KPMG, Cath spent eight years as a partner at Maddocks, after stints at top-tier firms King & Wood Mallesons in Melbourne, and Kirkland and Ellis LLP in New York. Her expertise in mergers and acquisitions has earned her recognition as a leading commercial lawyer by ‘Best Lawyers’ from 2018 to 2022, and by Doyle’s Guide.

Laura is an experienced M&A practitioner specialising in mid-market transactions, having previously advised a range of founders and owners, multinational groups, privately held Australian companies and listed public companies on mergers, acquisitions, and divestments. Laura has recently acted for the Founder of FraudWatch, a leading online protection provider to NetCraft a British-based cybercrime detection company.

Kain Lawyers Managing Director, John Kain, said the firm is thrilled to welcome Cath and Laura to the team, noting their extensive skill sets will strengthen the firm’s transactional offering in the mid-market sector.

“Kain has benefited once again from the high calibre of lawyers leaving the Big Four after they retreat from legal services.  We are thrilled to add Cath to the Melbourne team, where, alongside Nick Brown we have quickly put together an outstanding team focused directly on our core expertise of mid-market transactions. We are really excited to be able to offer this quality team to our Melbourne clients. Their expertise will help to further cement our position as Australia’s go-to mid-market transaction specialists,” Mr Kain said.

Cath and Laura will join Kain Lawyers Melbourne-based Directors Nick Brown and Jeremy Collins who started with the firm earlier this year.